Going for gold

Friday, 11 January 2013 From Issue Vol. XXI No. 2
By
Derek Franklin

At the London 2012 Paralympics, Thailand won four gold medals, two in the relatively unknown sport of boccia. Played by individuals or as a team sport, boccia is similar to bocce, which in turn is closely related to the sports of bowls and petanque.

The sport was originally designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy, but now included athletes with other severe disabilities, and it is one of the many sports available to the students at the Redemptorist Vocational School for People with Disabilities.

The students are currently in training to compete in the National Games for People with Disabilities which will take place in Chiang Mai from the 14th - 19th January.

The majority of athletes representing Chonburi will be from the Pattaya school and apart from the boccia players the team will also include swimmers, fencers, pistol shooters, archers, power lifters and wheelchair racers as well as those athletes who play wheelchair basketball, badminton, volleyball, takraw and wheelchair tennis.

The local athletes will face stiff opposition from other participating athletes, but we can all wish them the best of luck and hope they bring a large haul of gold medals back to Pattaya.

Badminton is played by players with varying degrees of disability.

Boccia, a sport of skill and precision.

Wheelchair basketball-one of the most popular sports.

Wheelchair fencing.

It takes many hours of training to become a champion.

One of Pattaya’s champion throwers.

This article was published in the Pattaya Mail newspaper on Friday January 11, 2013 (Vol. XXI No. 2).